I don't know who, but you can look at the evolution of brake levers and see that they started out as just brake levers. In sprints when racers were out of their seats and their weight shifted forward, they shifted forward and grabbed a hold of the furthest forward protrusion on the handlebars: the brake levers.

The lever designers recognized that riders were using the levers as handles, so they changed their designs to accommodate that, adding a rubber covering (hood) to make it more ergonomic. Then they redesigned the levers themselves to make it easier to brake from that hand position. The form of the lever evolved to make it more comfortable.

Nowadays it's the primary hand position for a lot of riders. The physical position is very close to that of the ends of bullhorns which are used in pursuit races (which are essentially sprints). Whether on bullhorns or on the hoods, that hand position is a good one for sprinting. So few people ride in the drops anymore, I think the next evolution of road bike handlebars may be to simply eliminate the end of the drop bars and use something more closely resembling bullhorns.